The Postwar World
1 total work
This is a political history of the West German state from its birth amid postwar defeat through to reunification after the fall of the Soviet Union, when she once again became the leading power in Europe. The book describes how the new Germany was brought into being by the rapidly changing political patterns of the Cold War; how it built a stable and, in due course, formidable economy; and how the hard-won triumph of Germany's new federal democratic vision has itself contributed to the larger vision of a federal, democratic Europe. The book ends with a consideration of whether or not the reunified Germany can hold to the same goals and certainties as the old state. The book is written from a firmly historical perspective, at a distance from the events it explores, and the approach is via a broad analytical narrative, rather than a series of thematic investigations.